News

Ancient Rock Art's Colours Come from Microorganism

A
particular type of ancient rock art in Western Australia maintains its vivid
colors because it is alive, researchers have found.

Jack Pettigrew and
his colleagues of the University of Queensland in Australia studied 80 of these
Bradshaw rock artworks named for the 19th Century-naturalist who first identified
in 16 locations within Western Australia's Kimberley region and found that a
vast majority of them showed signs of life.

"The team dubbed
the phenomenon "living pigments". "Living pigments" is a
metaphorical device to refer to the fact that the pigments of the original
paint have been replaced by pigmented micro-organisms.

Professor Pettigrew
told BBC News, "These organisms are alive and could have replenished
themselves over endless millennia to explain the freshness of the
paintings" appearance."